FAQ: Jobs

Every group of questions: Nextcloud FAQ

Which jobs to create first
Jobs and job modes
The job dialog
Advanced options for discovery and migration
Job status
Scheduling, recurrence and priority
Organise the jobs of a project
Groups and tags
Change many jobs at once

Which jobs to create first

These questions are explained in full in Which jobs to create first

Where do I start: one job or a Job Import?

One job to try SMART Migration on one library, OneDrive or file share. A Job Import as soon as you want every library of a site, a site collection or the tenant, every OneDrive, or the lines of a spreadsheet — or hundreds of jobs that follow the same rules.

How do I discover all my SharePoint sites or every OneDrive for the Power BI analysis?

New Job → Job Import; on Import from pick SharePoint Tenant or OneDrive in Tenant and enter any site of the tenant; pick Discovery on Action defaults; set it to Ready. The scan creates one Discovery job per document library or OneDrive, and the Power BI report shows them side by side once they have run.

What does a Job Import create, and for which scopes?

Jobs, never files: one job per document library of the whole tenant (SharePoint Tenant), of a site collection (SharePoint Site and Sub Sites) or of one site (SharePoint Site), one per OneDrive (OneDrive in Tenant), or one per line of a CSV file (CSV in Nextcloud Files). Empty libraries are skipped, and each run is recorded in Run History.

Which rules can a Job Import give the jobs it creates?

Everything on its defaults steps: group, tags, status, schedule and notifications on Job defaults, the mode on Action defaults, filters and version history on Source defaults, the destination and overwrite rules on Destination defaults, the MetaVox mapping on Metadata defaults, and the naming templates on Import from. Set them all, start the jobs in Discovery, and they need only their mode switched to migrate.

How do I keep a copy in Nextcloud that brings itself up to date every night?

Give a Migration job a Recurrence, such as Daily at night. The first run copies everything; every run after it copies only what changed, under the default rule Add New Overwrite Existing By Newer. Run now in the job's Status menu runs it at once when the copy cannot wait.

How do I just try a discovery or a migration on one document library?

Create that one job by hand: New Job → Discovery to see what is there or Migration to see its files arrive, the library's URL as Source URL, a destination for a migration, then Ready. No Job Import is needed. Not a Test Migration: it moves nothing, and the report shows its files only as Test Migration.

Jobs and job modes

These questions are explained in full in Jobs and job modes

What is the difference between Discovery, Test Migration and Migration?

Discovery reports what is in a source, Test Migration moves nothing and shows which files a migration would add as new and which it would overwrite, Migration copies the files into Nextcloud. All three fill the Power BI report: each file's File status becomes Discovery Report, Test Migration or Migration.

Read more: Jobs and job modes

How do I create my first job?

New Job on the Jobs tab, fill in title, mode and source, save, and set it to Ready.

Read more: Jobs and job modes · The job dialog

Why is my job not validated?

A required field is empty or a value does not suit its field. Open the job: the marked fields say what.

Read more: Jobs and job modes

How do I keep a job at the top of the table?

Click its pin in the Pin column at the far right: a pinned job moves to a Pinned band at the top of the table, above the tree or the list, marked by an orange line, and stays in view while the rest scrolls. Pins are your own: no other administrator sees them. Runs and file issues pin the same way.

Read more: Jobs and job modes

How do I see how many times a job has run?

A job that has run shows the runs mark and its number of runs beside its Result. Rest the pointer on it for the runs card: the runs per mode, how they ended, the time they took, the files, versions and volume, and the latest ten runs. Click the mark to pin the card, then Open on Run History tab to see them all. The row menu and the job's card open them too.

Read more: Jobs and job modes · Run History

How do I show only the OneDrive jobs, or only those writing to a user's files?

Pick the type in the filter under Source — SharePoint, OneDrive, file share or file list — or under Destination, such as a Nextcloud team folder or a user's files. Run History has the same two filters.

Read more: Jobs and job modes · Run History

Why can I not delete a job?

It is Running, Canceling, or Ready and not disabled. Set it to Hold or disable it first.

Read more: Jobs and job modes

The job dialog

These questions are explained in full in The job dialog

What does Advanced Settings show?

Priority, schedule and recurrence, the notifications, the file filters, empty folders, overwrite rules, metadata mapping and the .url link option. Hidden settings still apply. The line under the switch names the ones on the step you are on.

Read more: The job dialog

Can I save a job before it is complete?

Yes. It is saved with the status Hold and can be finished later. If you picked Ready, a warning says it is not validated and cannot be Ready yet.

Read more: The job dialog

Why can I not edit a running job?

While SMART Migration works on it the dialog is read-only, so the run matches its definition.

Read more: The job dialog

What is the difference between Wizard and Form?

Wizard shows the job one step at a time; Form shows every field on one page.

Read more: The job dialog

Advanced options for discovery and migration

These questions are explained in full in Advanced options for discovery and migration

Is a migration incremental by default?

Yes. The default rule, Add New Overwrite Existing By Newer, adds what is missing, replaces a file only when the source copy is newer and leaves the rest alone — so running the same job again copies only what changed since the last run. Choose another rule under Rules for adding and overwriting files, on the Destination step in Advanced Settings. Each run still reads the whole source; to read only what changed since the last successful run, switch on Incremental (only files changed since the last successful run).

How do I migrate only new files and leave the files already in Nextcloud alone?

Set Rules for adding and overwriting files to Add New Only. New files arrive; a file already at the destination is never touched, even when the source copy changed, so work done in Nextcloud is safe.

What is a Test Migration for, and does it show in the Power BI report?

It tests a migration's outcome without writing a file: which files would be added as new and which overwritten under the job's rule — by default the incremental Add New Overwrite Existing By Newer. Yes: each file it handles is listed in the Power BI report with the File status Test Migration and the destination it was tried against — a file no Discovery has found gets its row then.

What does a new job do unless I change its advanced settings?

It migrates incrementally (Add New Overwrite Existing By Newer), takes every file and every subfolder, recreates empty folders, brings every version (*:*:*), holds back a file whose metadata cannot be carried over, and leaves the SharePoint source as it is. Every one of these can be changed with Advanced Settings on.

Which advanced options apply to a Discovery job?

The source filters — From Date, To Date, Size From, Size To, Source File Type — and Include Subfolders. A Discovery job writes nowhere, so it has no destination, no overwrite rules and no empty folders. A first discovery is usually best unfiltered: the Power BI report can filter it afterwards.

Which SharePoint metadata can I analyse in Power BI after a discovery?

All of it: the standard columns — Created, Created By, Modified, Modified By, Content-Type — the retention and sensitivity labels, and every custom column of every library, with its type. The report filters on any of them across every library, in the free Power BI Desktop or any BI tool that reads the reporting database.

Does the Power BI analysis count the volume of the version history?

Yes. Discovery counts the size of every version, not only of the current file, and the report sets the current volume against the version history's — often a large share of a SharePoint library, and of the storage Nextcloud will need.

Job status

These questions are explained in full in Job status

How do I make a job run straight away, ahead of the others?

Pick Run now in the job's Status menu, or among the Job Status choices in its dialog and Save. It is set to Ready and put first in the queue, whatever its scheduled date and priority; the table marks it Next. It starts as soon as the server has room — and, if the server is offline, as soon as it is back.

Why did my finished job go on Hold when I changed its mode?

Finished and the result belong to the runs of one mode. A Finished Discovery job changed to Migration has not finished a migration, so it is saved Hold and shows no result. Change it back, and it is Finished again with its Discovery result. Switching Restore on or off does the same.

Read more: Job status · Jobs and job modes

When does a new job I save as Ready start?

As soon as the server has free capacity when its scheduled date has passed, or from that date when it is ahead. A message says which when you save it, and whether the server is offline; Cancel takes you back to the job.

Can I run a job now that is scheduled for tomorrow?

Yes. Save and run now in the message after saving it Ready, Run now among the dialog's Job Status choices, or Run now in its Status menu, puts it first in the queue: it starts as soon as the server has room.

Read more: Job status

Why does my job stay on Ready?

The server is not connected, the scheduled date is ahead — a blue clock beside its status says so, where Now means it is due — the job is disabled, four jobs are already running, or someone has it open.

Read more: Job status · Troubleshooting

What is the difference between Hold, Ready and Deferred?

Hold and Deferred are never claimed; Ready queues the job for the server.

Read more: Job status

Why does Deferred open a dialog?

So you can say why the job waits. Picking Deferred in the Status column's menu asks for My note — why it waits and when to look again — and Save sets the job, or every selected job, to Deferred and keeps the note; until then the status stays as it was. On a job already Deferred, the same entry opens its note to change it. The note is your own; other administrators do not see it.

How do I cancel a running job?

Cancel job in its row menu on the Jobs, Run History or Dashboard tab.

Read more: Job status

Why does my job stay on Canceling?

Canceling means the stop has been asked for and the SMART Migration server has still to carry it out: it stops the run as soon as it can, in the middle of its work, and then marks the job Canceled. Stopped midway, the run may leave the BI data incomplete or inconsistent, so delete it from Run History afterwards to make the BI data consistent again. The Dashboard shows the state of the BI data: its Power BI mark turns red while deleted runs wait to be purged. Should it stay for long, check that the SMART Migration server is running — the Live mark turns to Offline when it has stopped asking for jobs. Rest the pointer on the status for the same explanation.

Read more: Job status

How do I take a job out of the queue without changing its status?

Disable job, beside the Job heading of the job dialog, or Disable in Change selected jobs … in the Actions menu for the ticked jobs: a job keeps its status, but SMART Migration skips it until it is enabled.

Read more: Job status

Scheduling, recurrence and priority

These questions are explained in full in Scheduling, recurrence and priority

How do I make a job run every night?

Set Recurrence to Daily and the Scheduled Date to the time of night, in Advanced Settings.

Which Ready job does the server take first?

A job set to Run now first, whatever its priority and scheduled date. Then the highest Priority, then the earliest scheduled date.

What happens when a recurring job misses its time?

It runs once as soon as it can, then carries on from the next occurrence.

Can I set jobs to Ready now for a wave that starts at the weekend?

Yes: give them that Scheduled Date. A Ready job is not claimed before it.

Can a recurring job keep a backup of SharePoint or our file shares in Nextcloud?

No. Microsoft 365 throttles heavy and frequent reads, so recurring jobs cannot keep a whole tenant in sync: keep them to fewer than 20 libraries of under 50,000 files each as a rule of thumb, never more than about 50. A recurring copy protects selected libraries for an emergency, as DORA asks; backing up SharePoint Online, SharePoint Server or a file server is a job for a backup product.

Organise the jobs of a project

These questions are explained in full in Organise the jobs of a project

How do I organise the jobs of a project?

One group per migration wave, a short agreed list of tags for who, what and state, pins for what must stay in view, notes for what you must remember, and the archive for what is done.

How should I use the colours of the groups?

For the state of each wave: one colour for the waves being prepared, one for the wave running now, a grey for those finished — so the tree shows where the project stands. Set them in Manage groups.

How do I bring an archived job or run back?

Click the filter box under the Arch. title until it shows the archived rows — a bar for every row, a tick for the archived ones only — then untick the row's Archived box — for many at once, Change selected jobs … or Change selected runs … in the Actions menu.

How do I use My note?

Click the title of a job or run to pin its card and write in My note, or write it in the job's or the run's dialog — on File Issues, open the issue's details. On the card it is saved when you leave it, in a dialog by its Save; it is seen by you alone, and marked by a small orange triangle in the top-right corner of the row's title. The text filter under Title reads notes too: a note saying "Talk to Janus about this" is found by typing Janus.

When should I pin a job, and when write a note?

Pin what must stay at the top while it needs attention, and unpin it after. Write in My note what you must remember about that one job, run or issue — a decision, a warning, who to ask, why it is Deferred. Both are your own, and the text filter finds notes.

What happens when I delete a row another administrator pinned?

The delete dialog says how many of the rows another administrator pinned, and who. Confirm and the rows are deleted as usual; each of them then gets a Nextcloud notification naming the row and that you deleted it, and their pin goes with it.

Can I write My note while the job runs?

Yes. In the job dialog, My note about this Job sits under Job Description and is saved with the job by Save — also while the job runs and the rest of the dialog is read-only. On the pinned summary card, a note is saved when the card closes.

Can other administrators see My note?

No. My note is your own: each administrator has a note of their own on a job, run or issue, and no one else reads or changes yours. For what the whole team must know, use the job's Job Description or a tag. SMART Migration never reads a note, and it is not in the Power BI report.

How do I find the jobs whose note mentions something?

Type the word into the text filter under the Title column: on the Jobs, Run History and File Issues tabs it reads My note as well as the title. Rows with a note show a small orange triangle in the top-right corner of their title; on the Jobs and Run History tabs, a blue one in the bottom-right corner marks a row with a description.

Which tags work well in a migration project?

A few, agreed by the team: who owns the job (Finance, a name), what needs care (Sensitive, Legal hold) and where the work stands (Needs review, Signed off).

Groups and tags

These questions are explained in full in Groups and tags

What is the difference between a group and a tag?

A job has one group — its migration wave — and any number of tags that cut across the groups.

Read more: Groups and tags

How do I merge the groups an import created?

⋯ at the far right of the Jobs tab bar → Manage groups → Merge into ….

Read more: Groups and tags

Can I add a new group while I edit a job?

Yes. Manage groups beside Job Group adds the group, and Save and select puts it on the job. A click on a job's group in the Group column of the Jobs table opens the same dialog.

Read more: Groups and tags

How do I follow one migration wave across the tabs?

Pick its group in the Group filter; Jobs, Run History and File Issues share the choice.

Read more: Groups and tags

Can I change a run's tags without changing its job?

Yes. Click the run's Tags in Run History, or use Change selected runs … in the row menu or the Actions menu for two or more ticked runs; only the run's own record changes. A run's group is changed the same way, or with Job Group in its details.

Read more: Groups and tags

How do I add or take off a tag on many jobs and keep their other tags?

Tick the jobs and use Change selected jobs … in the Actions menu. Switch on Tags and pick Merge to add the tags you list, or Remove to take them off; every job keeps its other tags. Set gives every job exactly the tags listed instead. Change selected runs … on Run History works the same way.

Do a job's runs move when I change its group?

Only if you say so. When some of the job's runs are in another group, the app asks whether to move them too; No, keep their group leaves them, and you can move any run later from Run History.

Change many jobs at once

These questions are explained in full in Change many jobs at once

How do I release a whole migration wave at once?

Tick the group's box in the Tree view, then Change selected jobs … in the Actions menu, with Ready under Status.

Read more: Change many jobs at once

Can I change several properties of many jobs in one go?

Yes. Tick the jobs and pick Change selected jobs … in the Actions menu: status, enabled, scheduled date, mode, destination, rules for adding and overwriting files, group, tags, notifications, pin and archive in one dialog. Switch on what to change; whatever stays off is left as it is. Job Imports are changed one at a time, with Edit.

Read more: Change many jobs at once

Can I switch many jobs from Discovery to Migration, or give them a new destination, at once?

Yes. Tick the jobs and pick Change selected jobs … in the Actions menu, then switch on Mode, Destination Type, Nextcloud Team Folder, Destination User, Destination Folder or Rules for adding and overwriting files. Apply validates every job again: one that does not validate — a migration with no team folder named, say — is marked Not validated, and a Ready one goes back to Hold.

How do I change the status of many jobs at once?

Select the rows and change the status in one of them, or pick Change selected jobs … in the Actions menu; the change applies to all. In the Tree view, a group's, site's or folder's select-all box selects every job shown under it.

Read more: Change many jobs at once

How do I find and remove duplicate jobs?

Pick Same Title, Same Source or Same Destination in Duplicates in the tab bar, then Select duplicates: it ticks every duplicate but one of each set — a job SMART Migration has worked when there is one, otherwise the oldest. Then choose in the Actions menu: Delete …, or Change selected jobs … to move, archive or tag them. Run History and File Issues work the same way.

Read more: Change many jobs at once

How do I find the jobs that are not ready to run?

The Readiness filter: Not validated and Disabled.

Read more: Change many jobs at once

See also

Nextcloud FAQ — every group of questions